In a year filled with record rainfall and the highest lakes levels ever what wasn’t needed by Branson was the rain remnants of Hurricanes “Gustov” and “Ike.” By the time Ike had tracked its way through the Ozarks and Branson area lakes were well above their season normal levels for this time of year and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) was forced to open the spill way gates slightly at Table Rock Lake on Sep. 17.
Greg Oller, US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Lake Manager for Table Rock Lake said the rising level of Table Rock Lake caused the need to release a planned 20,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) from the lake. Oller said the plan is to release 20,000 cfs total through the hydro power plant and the spillway until Table Rock gets to down to an elevation of 920 feet at which time the release will be cut back to 15,000 cfs until the lake level drops to 917.
So far the release through the spill ways has been a constant 5,000 cfs. The water being run through the hydro power plant has varied while the Corps and Empire Electric have worked to make the necessary adjustments to limit and mitigate any downstream flooding.
James Sandburg, Corps Operations Manager for Table Rock Lake, said although the total amount of water planned for release from the lake will be either 20,000 or 15,000 cfs, depending on the lake level, that total amount will be a fluctuating combination of water being discharged through the hydroelectric plant and spillways. The amount of water coming over the spillways will be dependent on the water coming through the hydroelectric plant. If less water is coming through the hydroelectric plant more water will be released through the spillway and if more water is released through the hydroelectric plant less water will be released over the spillway.
The amount of water released through the hydro electric plant will be limited by amount of dissolved oxygen in that water. At this time of year, because of the lake depth from which the water used to generate power is drawn, the dissolved oxygen content is extremely low and causes a problem with Lake Taneycomo’s fishery. Sandburg said the Corps is working with the Southwest Power Administration and the Missouri Department of Conservation to solve or mitigate the problem.
The record of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicates Table Rock Lake crested at an elevation of 923.65 at about noon on Sep. 17, is filled to 45 percent of its flood storage capacity and is about 6.5 feet above its normal seasonal level of 917 feet. Beaver Lake, the lake discharging into Table Rock Lake crested at elevation of 1129 feet on Sep. 17, is filled to about 92 percent of its flood storage capacity and is about 8 feet above its normal seasonal level of 1121.4 feet.
Bull Shoals Lake, the lake Table Rock discharges into, had not crested as of 7:00 a.m. Sept. 18. It was at an elevation of 684.69, is filled to about 69 percent of it flood storage capacity and is about 28 feet above its normal seasonal level of 646 feet.
Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent https://bransoncourier.com/view_article.php?news_ID=41
